London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025

Elections watchdog admits errors in reporting Tory donations

Elections watchdog admits errors in reporting Tory donations

The UK's election watchdog has admitted it previously incorrectly registered donations to the Conservative Party.

The Electoral Commission had reported that the party accepted £10,000 in November 2019 from a company dissolved three years prior.

But the watchdog has now said this was an "administrative error," adding the party had in fact reported a donation from a different firm.

It added it regretted "any confusion," and the record would be corrected.

Additionally, the commission said the Conservatives had advised them the party had "inaccurately reported" donations from another company.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: "We welcome this decision from the Electoral Commission and we will continue to work with them."

Earlier this week Labour called for the watchdog to investigate whether the donations had breached electoral transparency laws.

Under current legislation, parties may only accept donations from a UK-registered company if it "carries on business in the United Kingdom".

In its regular reporting of political donations, the commission said the Tories had accepted £10,000 from Stridewell Estates in November 2019.

Government records indicate that the firm had been dissolved three years earlier, in November 2016.

The commission said the party had in fact reported a donation from another firm, called Kirklee Property Company 2 Limited, and it had incorrectly confused the two because they shared the same address.

Official records show that company was set up in 2006 and is still active.

Business Insider, which first reported the story, has previously quoted a spokesman for Stridewell suggesting it could be a mistake.

Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds wrote to the commission earlier this week

The watchdog added that it was still working with the party to establish the details of donations from another company, Unionist Buildings Limited.

The commission has reported that the Tories accepted £6,000 from the firm in June 2017. Records show the firm was dissolved six months earlier, in January.

The commission said the Conservatives had admitted incorrectly reporting donations from that firm - but gave no further details.

It said it remained in contact with the party "so that we can publish the correct information and provide transparency to voters".

Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: "This confirmation that the Conservatives inaccurately recorded a donation amounting to thousands of pounds raises more questions than it answers. We urgently need to know where that money came from."

Meanwhile, the commission has also admitted it incorrectly registered details of another donation to the Conservatives in late 2019.

It had previously said the party got £3,250 in December 2019 from a company called Landcap Development Eversley Ltd, which was disbanded 12 months prior.

But it said the party had in fact reported a donation from a still-active company, Landcap Limited. It again said it had confused the two businesses because they shared an address.

It is understood the watchdog discovered that error after the registered donation was brought to its attention.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
×